The present invention concerns a blade for installation in detachable fashion on a snowshoe. It also relates to a snowshoe for fitting with said blade.
Snowshoes are instruments which have been known for a great many years. They have been employed by the Scandinavian population for several centuries in order to travel on snow. Up to the present time, snowshoes have been used for utilitarian or military purposes, so as to allow the population or mountain troops to move on snow or for traveling as required by their everyday lives
Currently, snowshoes are mostly used by athletes for cross-country travel or hiking, or even for competitive events. Athletes, however, although they engage in athletic activity for their pleasure, are more and more demanding with respect to the equipment which they use, and, as a matter of fact, products which are currently sold are not proving totally satisfactory.
Thus, snowshoes must combine stopping and lifting criteria while still retaining maximum comfort for the user, in addition, the combination of these criteria take on particular importance under difficult practice conditions, such as, for example on hard snow or icy snow or with steep slopes. Current snowshoes, unfortunately, do not allow for obtaining an adequate foothold under such conditions and they do little for easing the user's movement. In addition, it may also be necessary to lessen the foothold of the shoe under certain types of utilization of the shoe or certain snow conditions, for example during downhill use.
The present invention proposes to resolve the aforementioned drawbacks by simple, reliable, safe and reasonably priced means. It presents an improvement with respect to snowshoes which permits adaption of the shoe to snow and slope conditions, thanks to surface holding means, such as a blade. Said means are fitted, preferably in detachable form, under the snowshoe as needed and if so desired by the user.